scholarly journals The determinants of aggression in male Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. McGoran ◽  
S. K. Papworth ◽  
S. J. Portugal

ABSTRACTSiamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, have been extensively studied due to their aggression and stereotypical displays. Many studies have focused on their characteristic opercular flaring, while the less aggressive and less energetically costly lateral display have been comparatively understudied. Many factors have been shown to influence aggression in Bettas, notably body length and the personality trait of boldness, however, the role that colour plays in determining an individual’s aggressiveness is much less clear. The role of colour has only been briefly studied, and based on human interpretations of colour, i.e. limited to what the receivers’ eyes and sensory systems actually can process and discriminate, with results suggesting blue males are more aggressive than red males. Using male-male interactions, measuring opercular flaring and lateral display we found that colour and personality do play a role in determining the degree of aggressiveness in Betta splendens. Blue-finned males were more aggressive, performing longer lateral displays more frequently. Blue fins are a phenotype observed in wild type males and is likely selected for to allow visual cues to travel through the murky water they inhabit. Body mass was positively correlated with lateral display frequency, and opercular flare frequency and duration. Finally, neophobic individuals – individuals that were less willing to approach a novel object – were more aggressive, performing significantly more lateral displays. This indicates that personality may impact fighting strategy, with males either choosing to end conflicts quickly with more aggressive displays or to outlast their opponent with less energetically costly displays.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Gomes Lima ◽  
Anderson Manoel Herculano ◽  
Caio Maximino

AbstractImportant neurochemical variations between strains or linages which correlate with behavioral differences have been identified in different species. Here, we report neurochemical and behavioral differences in four common zebrafish wild-type phenotypes (blue shortfin, longfin stripped, leopard and albino). Leopad zebrafish have been shown to display increased scototaxis in relation to the other strains, while both albino and leopard zebrafish show increased geotaxis. Moreover, leopard displayed increased nocifensive behavior, while albino zebrafish showed increased neophobia in the novel object task. Longfin zebrafish showed decreased turn frequency in both the novel tank and light/dark tests, and habituated faster in the novel tank, as well as displaying increased 5-HT levels. Leopard zebrafish showed decreased brain 5-HT levels and increased 5-HT turnover than other strains, and albino had increased brain DA levels. Finally, specific behavioral endpoints co-varied in terms of the behavioral and neurochemical differences between strains, identifying cross-test domains which included response to novelty, exploration-avoidance, general arousal, and activity.


1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (04) ◽  
pp. 601-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Matsuno ◽  
Osamu Kozawa ◽  
Masayuki Niwa ◽  
Shigeru Ueshima ◽  
Osamu Matsuo ◽  
...  

SummaryThe role of fibrinolytic system components in thrombus formation and removal in vivo was investigated in groups of six mice deficient in urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), or plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) (u-PA-/-, t-PA-/- or PAI-1-/-, respectively) or of their wild type controls (u-PA+/+, t-PA+/+ or PAI-1+/+). Thrombus was induced in the murine carotid artery by endothelial injury using the photochemical reaction between rose bengal and green light (540 nm). Blood flow was continuously monitored for 90 min on day 0 and for 20 min on days 1, 2 and 3. The times to occlusion after the initiation of endothelial injury in u-PA+/+, t-PA+/+ or PAI-1+/+ mice were 9.4 ± 1.3, 9.8 ± 1.1 or 9.7 ± 1.6 min, respectively. u-PA-/- and t-PA-/- mice were indistinguishable from controls, whereas that of PAI-1-/- mice were significantly prolonged (18.4 ± 3.7 min). Occlusion persisted for the initial 90 min observation period in 10 of 18 wild type mice and was followed by cyclic reflow and reocclusion in the remaining 8 mice. At day 1, persistent occlusion was observed in 1 wild type mouse, 8 mice had cyclic reflow and reocclusion and 9 mice had persistent reflow. At day 2, all injured arteries had persistent reflow. Persistent occlusion for 90 min on day 0 was observed in 3 u-PA-/-, in all t-PA-/- mice at day 1 and in 2 of the t-PA-/-mice at day 2 (p <0.01 versus wild type mice). Persistent patency was observed in all PAI-1-/- mice at day 1 and in 5 of the 6 u-PA-/- mice at day 2 (both p <0.05 versus wild type mice). In conclusion, t-PA increases the rate of clot lysis after endothelial injury, PAI-1 reduces the time to occlusion and delays clot lysis, whereas u-PA has little effect on thrombus formation and spontaneous lysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
Lev Bershteyn ◽  
Aleksandr Ivantsov ◽  
Aglaya Ievleva ◽  
A. Venina ◽  
I. Berlev

The aim of this study was to evaluate steroid receptors’ status of tumor tissue in different molecular biological types of endometrial cancer (EC), subdivided according to the current classification, and their colonization by lymphocytic and macrophage cells, taking into account body mass index of the patients. Materials and methods: Material from treatment-naive patients with EC (total n = 229) was included; the number of sick persons varied depending on the method used. The average age of patients was close to 60 years, and about 90% of them were postmenopausal. It was possible to divide the results of the work into two main subgroups: a) depending on the molecular biological type of the tumor (determined on the basis of genetic and immunohistochemical analysis), and b) depending on the value of the body mass index (BMI). The latter approach was used in patients with EC type demonstrating a defective mismatch repair of the incorrectly paired nucleotides (MMR-D) and with a type without characteristic molecular profile signs (WCMP), but was not applied (due to the smaller number of patients) in EC types with a POLE gene mutation or with expression of the oncoprotein p53. According to the data obtained, when comparing various types of EC, the lowest values of Allred ER and PR scores were revealed for POLE-mutant and p53 types, while the “triple-negative” variant of the tumor (ER-, PR-, HER2/neu-) was most common in POLE-mutant (45.5% of cases) and WCMP (19.4%) types of EC. The p53+ type of EC is characterized by inclination to the higher expression of the macrophage marker CD68 and lymphocytic Foxp3, as well as mRNA of PD-1 and SALL4. In addition to the said above, for WCMP type of EC is peculiar, on the contrary, a decrease in the expression of lymphocytic markers CD8 (protein) and PD-L1 (mRNA). When assessing the role of BMI, its value of >30.0 (characteristic for obesity) was combined with an inclination to the increase of HER-2/neu expression in the case of MMR-D EC type and to the decrease of HER-2 /neu, FOXp3 and ER expression in WCMP type. Conclusions: The accumulated information (mainly describing here hormonal sensitivity of the tumor tissue and its lymphocytic-macrophage infiltration) additionally confirms our earlier expressed opinion that the differences between women with EC are determined by both the affiliation of the neoplasm to one or another molecular biological type (subdivided according to the contemporary classification), as well as by body mass value and (very likely) the associated hormonal and metabolic attributes.


Author(s):  
Ana P. Sehn ◽  
Anelise R. Gaya ◽  
Caroline Brand ◽  
Arieli F. Dias ◽  
Roya Kelishadi ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectivesThe combination of sleep duration, television (TV) time and body mass index (BMI) may be related to the alteration of cardiometabolic risk. However, there are few studies that use these variables grouped, and showing the moderating role of age. This study aimed to verify if the combination of sleep duration, TV time and BMI is associated with cardiometabolic risk and the moderating role of age in this relationship in youth.MethodsCross-sectional study conducted with 1411 adolescents (611 male), aged 10–17 years. Sleep duration, TV time and BMI were assessed and grouped into eight categories. Cardiometabolic risk was assessed by a continuous metabolic risk score, including the following variables: low HDL-cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, dysglycemia, high systolic blood pressure, high waist circumference and low cardiorespiratory fitness. Generalized linear models were used to test moderation of age in the relationship between the eight categories of sleep duration/television time/BMI with cardiometabolic risk.ResultsCardiometabolic risk factor showed association with all overweight or obesity independent of sleep time and TV time. Age moderated the relationship between sleep duration/television time/BMI with cardiometabolic risk. This association was stronger in younger adolescents (11 and 13 years), indicating that individuals with inadequate sleep, prolonged TV time and overweight/obesity present higher cardiometabolic risk values when compared to 15-year-old adolescents.ConclusionOverweight/obesity, independently of sleep duration and TV time, is the main risk factor for cardiometabolic disorders in adolescence. When moderated by age, younger adolescents that presented the combination of risk factors had higher cardiometabolic risk.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 962
Author(s):  
Maciej Jerzy Bernacki ◽  
Anna Rusaczonek ◽  
Weronika Czarnocka ◽  
Stanisław Karpiński

Salicylic acid (SA) is well known hormonal molecule involved in cell death regulation. In response to a broad range of environmental factors (e.g., high light, UV, pathogens attack), plants accumulate SA, which participates in cell death induction and spread in some foliar cells. LESION SIMULATING DISEASE 1 (LSD1) is one of the best-known cell death regulators in Arabidopsis thaliana. The lsd1 mutant, lacking functional LSD1 protein, accumulates SA and is conditionally susceptible to many biotic and abiotic stresses. In order to get more insight into the role of LSD1-dependent regulation of SA accumulation during cell death, we crossed the lsd1 with the sid2 mutant, caring mutation in ISOCHORISMATE SYNTHASE 1(ICS1) gene and having deregulated SA synthesis, and with plants expressing the bacterial nahG gene and thus decomposing SA to catechol. In response to UV A+B irradiation, the lsd1 mutant exhibited clear cell death phenotype, which was reversed in lsd1/sid2 and lsd1/NahG plants. The expression of PR-genes and the H2O2 content in UV-treated lsd1 were significantly higher when compared with the wild type. In contrast, lsd1/sid2 and lsd1/NahG plants demonstrated comparability with the wild-type level of PR-genes expression and H2O2. Our results demonstrate that SA accumulation is crucial for triggering cell death in lsd1, while the reduction of excessive SA accumulation may lead to a greater tolerance toward abiotic stress.


Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 565
Author(s):  
Angela Toss ◽  
Claudia Piombino ◽  
Elena Tenedini ◽  
Alessandra Bologna ◽  
Elisa Gasparini ◽  
...  

Previous research involving epithelial ovarian cancer patients showed that, compared to germline BRCA (gBRCA) mutations, somatic BRCA (sBRCA) mutations present a similar positive impact with regard to overall survival (OS) and platinum and PARP (poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase) inhibitor sensitivity. Nevertheless, molecular testing in these studies did not include copy number variation (CNV) analyses of BRCA genes. The aim of this study was to explore the prognostic and predictive role of sBRCA mutations as compared to gBRCA mutations in patients who were also tested for CNVs. Among the 158 patients included in the study, 17.09% of patients carried a pathogenic or likely pathogenic gBRCA variant and 15.19% of patients presented pathogenetic or likely pathogenic sBRCA variants and/or CNVs. Overall, 81.6% of the patients included in this study were diagnosed with a serous histotype, and 77.2% were in advanced stages. Among women diagnosed in advanced stages, gBRCA patients showed better progression-free survival and OS as compared to sBRCA and wild-type patients, whereas sBRCA patients did not show any advantage in outcome as compared to wild-type patients. In this study, the introduction of CNV analyses increased the detection rate of sBRCA mutations, and the resulting classification among gBRCA, sBRCA and wild-type patients was able to properly stratify the prognosis of OC patients. Particularly, sBRCA mutation patients failed to show any outcome advantage as compared to wild-type patients.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document